News In Brief

October 26, 1984

John Clunies-Ross, who once ruled the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean like a feudal baron, won a court battle Thursday to stop the the Australian government from evicting him from his home. His family wielded power from 1827 to 1978 on the tropical island group until the government acquired his plantations for $5.2 million and moved to take over a remaining 12 acres and his home.

The government had said openly that its aim in acquiring the Clunies-Ross property was to exclude him and his family from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.